New holidays in Argentina

[Attorney in BA]

President CFK signed decree 1584/2010 establishing as non working days the Monday and Tuesday of carnival and November 20th.

With this, the total number of non working days per year is now 15.


http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1321208

 

[Gringoboy]

Well, they don't give us much, so I'm not complaining

 

[earlyretirement]

All these newly created holidays are great for employees but they are a nightmare if you own a company here. This is a terribly unproductive environment here.

 

[citygirl]

Don't forget the 10 study days a year if you have employees in school. So between holidays, vacations and study days, my employees get 7 weeks off.

I get 3, including holidays.

I should switch to the Argentine calendar

 

[esllou]

I saw the speech a month or so back when CFK spoke about the new holidays and the reason for them. To paraphrase: "holidays are wonderful opportunities for 'tourists' to spend more money, going to fairs and parks and so on. We've seen studies that show how much people spend during holiday periods, we think it's a good idea to increase the number of them".

(feel free to correct this recollection of her words)

so here's the logic...people have X amount to spend every year on extraneous expenses. Somehow, because there are more holidays, they'll find other wads of banknotes shoved down the side of the sofa to run off to the zoo and Barriloche.

it's the type of logic that causes some kids to wish "that christmas was every week".

then they grow up and realise that idea is lunacy and would destroy christmas itself. Hell, why doesn't the president just decide that every day is a holiday...the country would triple its GDP in a matter of months.

 

[earlyretirement]

Don't forget the 10 study days a year if you have employees in school. So between holidays, vacations and study days, my employees get 7 weeks off.

I get 3, including holidays.

I should switch to the Argentine calendar

Citygirl,

How true! Actually I think my employees going for their MBA at night get 15 study days a year. You mentioned the vacations and study days but you didn't touch upon "sick days". I'm not sure if your employees never call in sick but I doubt it. Add in the amount some employees "call in sick" with a "doctors note" and that can add on 2 to 3 more weeks a year as well.

Or you have a situation where one gets hurt in an accident and you can end up paying their entire salary for up to 1 year and not being able to fire them.

Just a terribly inefficient society compared to other countries.

 

[citygirl]

Good point, wasn't thinking about sick days.

I have to laugh b/c really, they don't realize how pro-employee the system is here. They get paid health insurance, guaranteed raises, work 9-6, guaranteed auginaldo, I authorized them work at home on Fridays b/c some have quite a long commute, they have 7 weeks off + sick time and yet.. they're not happy.

I offered them my benefits package - the one where I pay for my own healthcare, have 3 weeks off, got 1 raise in 3 years, don't get paid sick time, work on a global clock so am on call 24/7, don't have a guaranteed bonus.. all those fun things.

No one wanted it, I don't know why.

ETA - I think the world of my employees and they work hard. And their performance is outstanding. But it makes me laugh to hear them complain about things here. It really is a good country to be an employee in. As an employer, not so much.

 

[fifs2]

You also need to note that if an unmoveable feriado falls on a Tuesday or Thursday the Monday and Friday will also be feriados automatically. For 2011 I think that means only 1 new 4 day weekend but that has the potential to seriously damage industry...

we are dancing samba all the way to the election boxes to vote for Queen Christina, emperadora de Argentina..Let`s there be games for the mob!

 

[JoeBlow]

Citygirl,

How true! Actually I think my employees going for their MBA at night get 15 study days a year. You mentioned the vacations and study days but you didn't touch upon "sick days". I'm not sure if your employees never call in sick but I doubt it. Add in the amount some employees "call in sick" with a "doctors note" and that can add on 2 to 3 more weeks a year as well.

Or you have a situation where one gets hurt in an accident and you can end up paying their entire salary for up to 1 year and not being able to fire them.

Just a terribly inefficient society compared to other countries.

Oh come come! If you were an employee and not an employer you'd love it!

In my opinion this sytem is better than having zero worker protection. Again, in my opinion, zero worker protection only works in the US (so far) becuase the US lives off cheap (defenseless) labor in other countries.

 

[earlyretirement]

Oh come come! If you were an employee and not an employer you'd love it!

NO doubts with that statement. If I was an employee only I wouldn't be complaining. But then again I haven't been an "employee" for about 15 years as I've always been a employer so things like this mixed in with 27% mandatory raises, the study dates, the sick dates can get to you after a while.

While I believe in some worker protection...nothing like the system they have in place here now. It's chaotic. Even if you have employees in white they typically get a lawyer when you fire them. You have to pay them severance based on the # of years they were with you which can add up but sometimes they get a lawyer anyway. Workers have too many rights here.